The Dawson journal., 1887-02-03

iuAtS3 Wn0u, Will luOSb Ol us, TIE
mere friction of life's current in
our veins is burning us up? Alb
stlnence from every artificial
strain is commanded by Nature,
aud the command is implicitly
obeyed by all her subjects save
man. A fountain of the rarest
cid wine would never tempt my
thrush, my mockingbird or my
gay, green heron. Water, the
soothor, the quencher of fire, the
controller of passion, Is their
drink. There il a profound
meaning in this trite fact. The
wild things do not know as much
as we do about the good of this,
or the evil of that; but they never
break old Natures laws. What
is the meaning? 1t is aquipoise
--steadfastness hereditary habit.
Looking into the far future and
remembering how this hereditary
habit is created, we may well
draw the conclusion, and to-day
begin laying the foundation for
the steadflst character of future
generations. Shall dumb nature,
working blind'y, do more than
human nature, working in the full
flood of intelligence and Christian
enlightenment? For countless
ages the bird and the beast have
kept faith with Nature. From
my earliest bcyhood [ have been
persistent, tireless roamer in the
wild woods, a student by field and
flood, aud | never yet have found
sick wild thing, save those sick
from wounds, nor have | ever
found a dead wild thing which
appeared to have died of disease
or old age. This is significant, in
view of mans terrible lot. No
one need rush to the extreme Of
the thought; bat why may we not
sensibly and safely infer enough
to argue as follows: For years
unnumbe7e / the wild things have
strictly followed the plain rules
Of Nature. As they have devel-
oped their habits have developed,
so that a bird, for instance, and
its llfe-habit are the results of
parallel and just natural forces.
Man and his habits might have
been as Justly balanced for per-
feet physical and moral sanity, il
he had never transgressed. Bat
transgression is already becoming
hereditament-I mean physical
traAsgreSsion and who does not
see long dark lines running down
into the far future marking the
ways of weakness, disease, suffer
ing and crime, through countless
generations?
Man has not been upon earth as
long as the other animals have.
We cannot say, and | think sci
ence forbids us to say, that man
has yet had time to develop any
steadfast human life habit. But
in the great future habit will crys-
talize and become permanently
hereditary. Man, the last and
noblest of Gods creation, will,
perhaps, some time in tho awful
future, reach a fixed stature, when
Tin no dimly fgurative sense) his
drink will be either water or wine.
Nature, even human nature, is in
Gods hand, and we must trust
that, as he has lei his older
creatures to steadfastne6s in the
simplest and safest habit OF life,
he will lead our younger and
more precious race of beings safe
ly into the highest state of moral
and physical equilibrium. The
water Of life is phrase balancing
we'll between the meanings of sci
enca and the meanings of religion.
There is no substitute for water
anywhere in the economy of Ma
ture, and its cleansing and sooth-
ing properties night we'll pass
over into literature along with the
world and tipify the highest and
purest influence that affects hu-
man life.
What a brook, bortlered by green
willows, winding sy throug the
great plain Of the future, is u her
editary happines5 Robust health
and steadfast qualities, based on